Meet the Galápagos Islands’ Godzilla-Like Marine Iguana

One species of Galápagos iguana has an incredibly unique adaptation — well, unique for lizards at least. The marine iguana is the only lizard on earth known to dip into the ocean to forage for food.

Although marine iguanas spend part of their time in the water, they still need to come up for air and to warm up on the beach (they’re cold-blooded and gill-less, after all). Their dives are usually quite short, but they may stay basking in the water for as long as an hour. Much of their time, however, is spent on the rocky beaches of the Galápagos archipelago, soaking up the sun.

Diver Steve Winkworth captured some stunning footage of some diving marine iguanas at Cabo Marshall on Isabela Island, as the lizards chowed down on their favorite meal: fresh algae! Have a look:

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